Nine winners were named at the Moves Together Awards on 16 September. Battersea parkrun has now run 83 times and recorded 86,167 finishes in under two years.
A free Saturday morning 5k that did not exist two years ago has been named Wandsworth’s club or organisation of the year. Battersea parkrun took the top club award at the Wandsworth Moves Together Awards on Wednesday 16 September, at a ceremony in the council’s Civic Suite hosted by the Wandsworth resident and film director Fredi Nwaka.
Nine awards were handed out, for achievements during 2025. The council’s own list of winners is the only place they are named. (Wandsworth Council, Moves Together Awards winners)
Who won what
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Club or Organisation of the Year | Battersea parkrun |
| The Mayor’s Award | The Baked Bean Charity |
| Volunteer of the Year | Tahir Gondal |
| Outstanding Contribution to Sport and Physical Activity | Peter Freeman |
| Active Communities Award | Orleen McIntosh |
| Active School of the Year | Garratt Park School |
| Coach or Instructor of the Year | Maria Lopez |
| Junior Sports Person of the Year | Jasmine Nkoso |
| Sports Person of the Year | Lucy Jones |
The council cited Battersea parkrun for guide runners for blind and visually impaired participants and British Sign Language briefings during Deaf Awareness Week. Tahir Gondal was recognised for coaching badminton and organising activities with Happy Homes Community. Peter Freeman was honoured for almost 20 years helping local clubs and groups secure funding. Orleen McIntosh runs Messy Play and the Alton Explorers Club on the Alton Estate in Roehampton. Maria Lopez coaches Taekwondo, adapting sessions for children with additional needs.
The numbers behind the parkrun award
The council’s release describes “tens of thousands of participants”. parkrun’s own event history for Battersea is more precise, and it makes the scale of the thing clear.
- The first Battersea parkrun was on 12 October 2024, with 269 finishers.
- There have now been 83 events, the most recent on 12 September 2026.
- Those 83 mornings have produced 86,167 finishes, an average of 1,038 a week.
- The busiest was 1,310 finishers on 26 April 2025.
- Volunteers have filled 3,926 roster slots across the 83 events, an average of 47 each week.
It got big fast and then stayed there. The course averaged 953 finishers a week in its first full quarter and 1,101 in the quarter just gone. The pattern since is seasonal rather than upward: the quietest quarters were the late summer and autumn of 2025, at 938 and 919, and the busiest was the first quarter of this year, at 1,128.
Those are finishes rather than individual people, because most runners come back. The figures are from parkrun’s published event history for the course, which starts on Carriage Drive West. (Battersea parkrun event history)
One practical note for anyone planning to go: Battersea parkrun is cancelled on Saturday 3 October 2026, with the venue unavailable. (Battersea parkrun)
The school, and the charity
Garratt Park School, which took Active School of the Year, is a special school on Waldron Road in Earlsfield, SW18. It was rated Good by Ofsted at its most recent inspection, reported on 13 May 2024. (Ofsted, Garratt Park School, URN 101103) The council recognised it for building inclusive physical activity into school life and creating chances for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to compete and lead.
The Baked Bean Charity, which received the Mayor’s Award, runs accessible fitness sessions for adults with learning disabilities, including boxing, dance, Zumba and fitness classes. It is registered charity number 1163851, formed in 2015 to promote social inclusion for adults with learning disabilities through theatre, drama and the arts. Its most recent accounts, for the year to 31 March 2025, record a total income of £1,440,355 against expenditure of £1,368,759, and the register shows its reporting is up to date. (Charity Commission register)
What the council said
Councillor Ethan Brooks, Cabinet Member for Environment, presented the Outstanding Achievement Award. He said the borough has “an extraordinary network of volunteers, coaches, clubs, schools, community organisations and talented athletes”, and that the awards celebrate “the people whose dedication, passion and commitment make such a positive difference across Wandsworth”.
The Mayor of Wandsworth, presenting the Mayor’s Award, said the winners “embody the very best of community spirit”. (Wandsworth Council, 17 September 2026)
What it means for you
Every organisation on that list is open to new people, and most of it costs nothing. Battersea parkrun runs at 9am every Saturday from Carriage Drive West, SW11 4NJ, and you need to register once, for free, before your first one. Walking it counts, and so does volunteering: the roster needs about 47 people every week.
If you are looking for something to do closer to home, our guide to things to do in Wandsworth covers the parks, pools and leisure centres across the borough, and the council has been upgrading four of its leisure centres this year.
Sources
- Wandsworth Moves Together Awards, full list of winners (Wandsworth Council, updated 16 September 2026), for the nine categories, the winners and the citations.
- Local sporting heroes celebrated at Wandsworth Moves Together Awards 2026 (Wandsworth Council, 17 September 2026), for the date, the venue, the host and the quotations.
- Battersea parkrun event history, for every event date, finisher count and volunteer count since 12 October 2024. Totals are our own addition of the published per-event figures.
- Ofsted, Garratt Park School, for the Good rating and the 13 May 2024 report date.
- Charity Commission register, The Baked Bean Charity (1163851), for the charitable objects and the 2024-25 income and expenditure.
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